Purpose: You will practice your written conversation skills in Spanish by participating in a discussion board in Spanish. You will share information about pets with your classmates and you will engage in asking and answering follow up questions.
Task: This activity has three parts:
- An initial response to the prompt
- A follow up interaction with two classmates
- A final remark to your peers who commented on your initial response
Part 1. Read and respond to the following prompt in Spanish. Post your response to the discussion board.
- ¿Tienes mascotas?
- Si (if) tu respuesta es sí: ¿Cómo se llama(n)? ¿Cuántas mascotas tienes? ¿Qué tipo de animales son?
- Si tu respuesta es no: ¿Deseas tener una mascota? ¿Por qué sí o por qué no?
Part 2. You will read the responses of two classmates and post a follow up comment and question in Spanish to these two classmates. Be creative and authentic! If you need some help perpetuating the conversation, there are some ideas listed below.
Part 3. Just as you have read and responded to two of your peers, some of your peers have read and responded to you. Finish up the conversations by responding to each peer who commented on your original post. Answer their questions, and politely thank them for their time and sign off. If you need some help wrapping up the conversation, there are some ideas listed below.
Criteria: The components of this activity add up to 100%.
Part 1. 30% will be earned for posting your initial response in Spanish to the discussion board.
Part 2. 40% will be earned for interacting with two peers on their initial posts: you are to comment and question on the posts of two peers, so each comment/question is worth 20%.
Part 3. 30% will be earned for responding to your peers on your original post: you are to answer two follow up questions that your peers asked about your original post and politely thank them and sign off (15 % each) .
In the following example, Erica posts her response to the prompt. Her peers, Janelle and Becky, write a comment and question. Erica responds to their question and politely wraps up the conversation. Erica still needs to comment and ask a question to two other peers on the discussion board.
Ejemplo:
| Erica: Hola. Me llamo Erica. Sí, tengo tres mascotas. Tengo un gato que se llama Cookie y dos perros que se llaman Tony y Tommy. | |||
| Janelle: Hola Erica. Me encantan los perros. ¿Cuántos años tienen tus perros? | |||
| Erica: Hola Janelle. Me encantan los perros también. Tony tiene 3 años y Tommy tiene 10 años. Gracias por conversar conmigo. Hasta la próxima vez. | |||
| Becky: Hola Erica. No tengo mascotas, pero deseo tener un gato. ¿Es una buena idea tener un gato en tu opinión? | |||
| Erica: Hola Becky. En mi opinión es una buena idea tener un gato. Son muy fåciles de mantener y son buena compañía. Gracias por tu comentario y pregunta. Nos vemos. | |||
Additional follow up questions for students who need support perpetuating the conversation:
- ¿Tu mejor amigo (best friend) tiene mascotas? ¿Qué tipo de animales son?
- ¿Qué tipo de mascota es tu favorito, los gatos/gatas o los perros?
- ¿Qué tipo de mascota es tu favorito, los peces o los pájaros?
- ¿Deseas tener una mascota más?
Additional comments students can use to perpetuate the conversation:
- Algo me dice que… (Something tells me that…)
- ¡Qué lástima! / ¡Qué pena! (What a pity / That’s too bad)
- ¿En serio? / ¿Verdad? (Really?)
- ¡No me digas! (No way!)
- ¡Ay dios mío!/¡madre mía! (Oh my goodness!)
- ¡Qué bueno! ¡Qué bien! (That’s great!)
- Chévere / Bacano / Qué padre (Cool!)
